Events Calendar

See where the cougars and otters sleep overnight, meet black bears that are not commonly on display, learn the ins and outs of what it takes to care for the animals year-round, observe a training session and find out why the animals call Grandfather Mountain home.

Offered on weekends, April – October.

• Sandburg Home Free Tour Days and National Park Fee Free Days (when noted)
  Visitors can enjoy free tours of the Sandburg Home on 10 days in 2020. Five days are also fee free days at all national parks.
• April 11, 2020 (first Saturday of local school spring break)
• April 18, 2020 – First Day of National Park Week (national fee free day)
• June 13, 2020 (Sandburgs’ wedding anniversary)
• August 25, 2020 – National Park Service Birthday (national fee free day)
• September 26, 2020 – National Public Lands Day (national fee free day)
• October 17, 2020 (Park Anniversary)
• November 11, 2020 – Veterans Day
• December 26, 2020 (Saturday after Christmas)

More than 700 students from across the country used canvases for an artistic expression inspired by Carl Sandburg’s poem “Night Movement,” and other poetry pieces in Sandburg’s collection “Smoke and Steel.” 71 canvases were submitted to the exhibit and each canvas reflects how the young artists chose to interpret what “movement” means to them. Visitors can see the installation in a building adjacent to the Sandburg Home when they visit. Young artists are represented from across the country and locally.

Sandburg Home: The Sandburg Home is a great place to start your visit! The ground floor of the home contains visitor information, exhibits, tour ticket sales, the park store, and you can watch the park video. The main and top level of the home are furnished with the Sandburg family belongings. Visitors may only access the furnished ares of the home on a guided tour.

Sandburg Home Guided Tour Fee: (credit card only)
$8.00 for Adults 16 and older
$5.00 for Adults age 62 and older and all interagency pass holders
Free for Children age 15 and under

• Reservations: Reserving in advance lets you pick your preferred house tour time. Tours fill up quickly. Last-minute, in-person tickets may not be available on the day you visit. Plan ahead and reserve house tour tickets at recreation.gov.

• Passes: The park sells the America the Beautiful– National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Passes.
  *These passes do not waive the house tour fee, but do provide a discount.
• 30-minute house tours are offered every day. Visit recreation.gov for the current schedule.
• Visitors may only tour the Sandburg Home on a guided tour.
• Tours are limited to 12 persons.
• Strollers are not permitted on the house tour, but there is a place to leave them for storage. Infants and small children should be carried through the house while on tour.

Upper Cascades release 4/18

This is part of the 2020 Cascades & Upper Nantahala Recreational River Release Schedule. For additional days and flow rates that are currently planned, please visit our full schedule here.

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day and the 25th Anniversary of the GLOBE program, the Buncombe County Library System and NASA are challenging you to make every tree count by using the GLOBE observer app to contribute to a global tree inventory.

Learn more at observer.globe.gov/trees-2020

To join the library team and become a citizen scientist download the free GLOBE observer app from the Apple App Store or Google Play. Create an account, go to settings, click on JOIN a GLOBE Team, and type in the referral code: GLIDCTAZ.

You are now part of our Citizen Scientist team, Friends of Treebeard! Follow the directions and head outside!

Happy Earth Day teammate!

The exhibit features selected pieces from one of the world’s finest collections of over 600 historic brass instruments from the Joe and Joella Utley Collection of Spartanburg, SC. In collaboration with the National Music Museum (NMM) in Vermillion, South Dakota, which will soon house the Utley Collection, Dr. Sabine Klaus, curator of the Utley Collection, worked closely with Tom Strange, Curator and Artistic Director of the Carolina Music Museum to prepare the exhibit.
Tuesday – Saturday 10-5 Sunday 1-5

Speaker: naturalist and educator, Clint Calhoun

During this presentation, Clint will discuss the reasons why Hickory Nut Gorge is special – focusing on its unusual natural communities and some of the special flora and fauna that make Hickory Nut Gorge their home.

Clint is a native of the foothills of Rutherford County. After graduating high school in 1992, he started his first job at Chimney Rock Park (before it was a state park). He continued to work at Chimney Rock Park while he attended Gardner-Webb University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology in 1996. After graduation Clint became the Trails Supervisor for Chimney Rock Park and finished his 11 year career there as the Park Naturalist. Clint went on to serve as the Watershed Coordinator for the Upper Broad River Watershed Program and the Environmental Management Officer for the Town of Lake Lure and is currently teaching high school science at Lake Lure Classical Academy. Clint has worked in the Hickory Nut Gorge area for his entire career, spanning 25-plus years, as a biologist, natural resources manager, and environmental educator. During that time he has gained significant knowledge of the plants, animals, and natural communities of Hickory Nut Gorge and often provides professional expertise to organizations such as The Nature Conservancy, Conserving Carolina, and NC State Parks.

https://riverlink.org/get-involved/special-events/earthday/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=191b64e9-75b2-483f-909b-c345ee2dc5f9

Earth Day is a great time to cherish our connection to the natural world! Every year RiverLink celebrates the holiday with its annual Earth Day Kid’s Festival. We invite families and people of all ages to come out and enjoy environmental education, arts and crafts, performances and more!

As protectors of the French Broad River, we understand the importance of environmental conservation. We and all of our partnering organizations want to share our knowledge and passion with the stewards of tomorrow. This event features educational activities from some of the best local environmental educators. Topics include recycling, wildlife education, farmstead, rivers, and more!

We also love to showcase the earth as a source of artistic inspiration. Festival-goers can express their creativity through many eco-friendly arts and crafts. We will also display the entries and announce the winners for RiverLink’s Voices of the River: Art and Poetry contest, so come show support for your favorite young artist.

And of course, what would a festival be without fun and entertainment? You can expect games, face painting, and more!

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4vY8ZjQRSNKiqao3sBHj7g

Chapman Cultural Center launched a community-wide initiative in Spring 2014 called Spartanburg Soaring! to build civic pride, promote healthy outdoor play, and celebrate cultural diversity and creativity. Every year, the festival grows, so be sure to attend this year and make Spartanburg Soaring! International Kite Festival the highest-flying event yet!

Are you an artist interested in vending in the 2019 Makers Market? Apply Here: https://forms.gle/oV15Q5eQTzGGVGK67

SAVE THE DATE FOR 2020 Spartanburg Soaring!

In spring 2014, Chapman Cultural Center launched a community-wide initiative called Spartanburg Soaring! to encourage creativity, promote healthy outdoor activity, and to build civic pride. Using kites as a common theme, Spartanburg Soaring! engaged cultural curiosity and promoted active play through activities and events all across the city. The kite festival takes place in Barnet Park and around the Chapman Cultural Center each spring when hundreds of colorful kites fill the skies above Spartanburg. Every year, the festival grows, so be sure to attend this year and make Spartanburg Soaring! International Kite Festival the highest-flying event yet!

The festival is free and open to all, including the many international kite flyers who have come from Europe, Asia, Canada, and across the United States to join the fun. Kites will be available for purchase or you can bring a kite from home.

NOW ACCEPTING CRAFT MARKET APPLICATIONS: https://forms.gle/oV15Q5eQTzGGVGK67

https://www.facebook.com/events/436362417133230/

Forget tourist-filled museums, make your own memories with a photo scavenger hunt tour in Greenville! On a Let’s Roam scavenger hunt, you and your team will work together to wander throughout Greenville, racking up points and laughs along the way. Greenville Adventure is the perfect small group activity for anyone looking to spend an enjoyable afternoon in Greenville.

Some of the more memorable landmarks you’ll see are: NOMA Square, Swamp Rabbit Trail, Greenville Drive Baseball Stadium, Baseball Library..

Let’s Roam scavenger hunts work great for outdoor team building games in Greenville too! Whether you work in Greenville or are just visiting, you are sure to learn some new facts about the city as well as your teammates on this creative corporate event! This is one of the happiest hours your team will spend together!

Fear not, maids of honor, these hunts are sure fire ideas for Greenville bachelorette parties! Bachelors and bachelorettes will both enjoy roaming around on their wedding-themed Greenville scavenger hunts. Why just bar hop when you and your team can jump for joy as you complete hilarious photo challenges and see the best that Greenville has to offer!

Looking to check out a different part of the city? Check out Downtown Asheville Scavenger Hunt, Classic City Culture & History, and Lap Around Charlotte as well!

Here is some more info about this hunt:

Follow the Blue Ridge Mountains and you’ll find one of South Carolina’s most picturesque cities. On this fun-filled Greenville scavenger hunt, explore the storied buildings, great green spaces and cultural institutions.Is there a waterfall in NOMA Square? Who left their sox in the baseball stadium? Find out on this scavenger hunt of Greenville!

On exhibit Saturdays and Sundays from 12 – 4 p.m., Rocky Cove Railroad is a G-Scale (garden scale) model train that demonstrates the coming of trains to western North Carolina at the turn of the 20th century. The exhibit is located below the Grand Promenade. Please note, Rocky Cove Railroad will not operate in rainy or wet conditions.

The Community Garden Network’s Grantwriting 101 workshop is coming back for a 3rd round due to popular demand on Wednesday April 22nd from 1-4pm. We will offer this workshop online through the Google Meet virtual meeting platform. In order to ensure that everyone who wants to participate is able to receive the link, please RSVP for this workshop no later than Monday April 20th. Participants will need access to a computer for this workshop for optimal participation, as the workshop will be utilizing visual slides. This free workshop will offer tools for beginners, and even intermediate grant writers will learn some helpful tips.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Ru1hZnbFLTpaotPrmFYlaO2aNijV_gFZxUbyaLCIQB0/

Eat, drink and be merry! Join us this Saturday (and every Saturday) from 7pm to 10pm as we host live local talent! The talent in our beautiful city is incredible, so come out for dinner and live music. Saturday, February 3rd we will have the acoustic sounds of Katie D. Check out our website for a list of all artists that will be playing!

“Go Outside and Howl at 8” is a national call for communities to recognize all essential front-line workers! Let’s join this call, Asheville! Show people in this community who are putting their lives at risk that we see them, and we love them! Let’s hear y’all howl at 8pm every night!!

Feel free to add pictures and/or videos to the Discussion in this event!

Much love, y’all!

The Kruger Brothers perform progressively-minded, classically-conscious music that’s wildly diverse, but ultimately rooted in the tradition of American bluegrass. The Brothers will perform as a trio and alongside the Hendersonville Symphony String Quartet!